Nagpur Municipal Corporation receives state-of-the-art remote-operated boat

In a bid to reverse the deteriorating state of Nagpur’s lakes, the Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) provided the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) with a unique machine. A state-of-the-art remote-operated boat was presented to the NMC for cleaning the city’s three major water bodies.

According to official reports, the one-of-a-kind remote-operated boat was furnished at a cost of Rs. 29 lakhs by the OICL as part of its CSR spending. The boat has been specially designed to catty out cleaning operations by collecting waste materials on the surface of water bodies. Floating waste materials are a common sight in a majority of India’s lakes – something that this initiative will attempt to correct.

The boat runs on battery power and can run uninterrupted for 4-5 hours on a full charge. This gives the boat an operational range of 4-5 km during which clean operations can be carried out remotely from the shore.

Nagpur has three major lakes – Futala, Ambazari and Sonegaon. NMC officials stated that the system has already been put to work at Sonegaon Lake and the results are encouraging. “We started by cleaning Sonegaon Lake and have got good results. We will use it at Futala and Ambazari lakes in turn. It will be used continuously to ensure that the lakes are free of waste,” they stated.

The official statement also mentioned that the boat would be engaged at each lake for two days at a time. Futala will be cleaned on Mondays and Tuesdays, Ambazari on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and Sonegaon on Fridays and Saturdays.

The move is a welcome one given the state of India’s lakes. India suffers from constant water crisis and the rampant water pollution does it no favors. In fact, India possesses just four per cent of the world’s freshwater resources despite having 17 per cent of the world’s population. This puts a tremendous stress on its water security and is a source of constant headache.

Concrete action taken up by outfits like IOCL and Nagpur Municipal Corporation is the need of the hour. This will not only reverse the ill-effects of water pollution in the country but also alleviate water insecurity problems in the country.

Also Read :-Dedicated support for Ukraine, says Smithfield; Announces $2 million in aid